This invention relates generally to valves used to divert liquid flow and particularly to a faucet-mounted valve for diverting a portion of the water flow over a chemical block to dissolve and dispense the chemical.
Diverter valves are commonly used in the plumbing industry to effectuate a complete diversion of the water supply from a tub to a shower in a bathroom. Typical of such valves is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,754 in which a spring-biased diverter valve is used to selectively block the tub outlet or so that the supply is wholly diverted upwardly to the shower outlet. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,346 discloses a pivotable outlet with a spring-biased valve which is held in position by water pressure so that water is diverted to the shower, while U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,141 uses a spring-biased slide valve in which water is diverted to a tub outlet or a shower outlet depending on the position of the slide.
In none of these valves or any other known prior art is there a disclosure of a valve which is intended to divert only a portion of a water flow from a continuous supply.